Visitors from Turkey

We’ve been going to Vasil Levski School in Breznik once a week this school year. We have an English club and a ceramics club that we do in the afternoon with some of the elementary classes. This week, the school was hosting a group from their sister school that’s located in Turkey. Our colleague, Toshko organized a day for the students to makes ceramics using the traditional red clay and paints. Bulgarian ceramics are very beautiful and this gave the Turkish students the experience of using an electric or manual wheel, as well as the gift of taking home a piece that they created.

One kid explained to me that his mom did ceramics and she was going to be so proud of him for making something. Between helping the young artisans wash their hands clean of clay, I observed the other kids patiently waiting their turn, leaning over each other’s shoulders, watching the wheel spin round and round, until—as if it were magic, the lump of formless clay transformed into a functional, symmetrical and rather elegant bowl. I saw the excitement in the children, but also in our two instructors, who were teaching the kids not only a craft which they loved, but also the skill of making something new and beautiful. I heard the excitement in the Bulgarian teacher’s voices as they shared bits and pieces of Bulgaria’s tradition and culture. After the class, a student group of singers did a performance of Bulgarian songs for the Turkish visitors. They did a fantastic job and the intonations of traditional Bulgarian song is truly lovely. Later in this week, we’ll go back to Breznik and bring the kids to a radio tower and do some activities with them there.

It was obvious that this week abroad was a special experience for the Turkish kids, but I’ve no doubt it’s been extremely special for the Bulgarian’s to share the beautiful parts of their culture and history. It can become so easy to complain about one’s country and culture and this is by no means exclusive to Bulgaria. Nonetheless, I’ve had nearly identical conversations time and time again where someone is asking me why would I leave a place like America for a place like Bulgaria. Indeed, I have also had the occasional affirmative response that Bulgaria is a beautiful country and a nice place to live. But, my point is, when we’re blessed with the opportunity to “show off” our culture, or country, our families, the places we come from, suddenly it seems the lenses of lack and need fall off and are replaced with a renewed view that sees all the good and the beautiful. I only wonder what would be the result if we didn’t need the motivation of others observing to display the good and beautiful and all that is worthy of gratitude and praise, but instead, that was simply the way that things were seen.